As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a related art spring contact 1 includes an upper contact pin 2, a lower contact pin 4, and a spring 3. The upper contact pin 2 and the lower contact pin 4 are assembled to enable a vertical slide. The upper contact pin 2 and the lower contact pin 4 are elastically supported by the spring 3 therebetween. Thus the upper contact pin 2 applies pressure to a lead of an IC and the lower contact pin 4 applies pressure to a PCB, resulting in electrical contact between the IC and the PCB.
The spring contact electrically connects the PCB with the lead of the IC, and is an essential part of a test socket for testing ICs.
In the related art, minimizing the outer diameter of the spring contact has been problematic. That is, to manufacture a spring contact with an outer diameter of 0.2 mm, the thickness of the spring, and the shape and size of the upper contact pin and the lower contact pin become exceedingly fine. Accordingly, it is difficult to work with and assemble the spring contact using present technology. Therefore, mass production and quality guarantees of the spring contact are difficult to achieve. Furthermore, price of the spring contact increases, thus limiting commercialization thereof.